Also, there are some of us with the ability to sign applications, that would be happy to collaborate with others in finalizing open source applications, and then getting them signed. All you need to do is get them to work on the device simulator, and once the signing party was comfortable that the application was legitimate, they could get it signed and posted.

I think that as long as it was a colaboration it should be fine -- from a legal standpoint. I'm not sure, but I think the reason for the signing authority is more about maintaining a grip on security, and less about getting that $100. When you sign an app, RIM gets the hash sent to them. This way, if an app starts doing evil things, they know where it came from. So, in a collaborative environment, the person with signing authority would be part of the final development/release...if the app were "evil" he would be up a creek without a paddle.

If your question is whether you can set a key that you can press (and keep pressed) for a second or two and have it call an assigned number, then the answer is that this is a built in feature beginning in Handheld software 3.7.1.41.

If you want to have an icon on the main screen ribbon that will dial a number when selected - this is far more complex. As far as I know, the API for sing the phone in buried deep in the bowels of the OS - rumor is that it will be readily available in OS4.0. Like everything else